Miroslav Vitous

Biography

6 December 1947, Prague, Czechoslovakia. After studying bass at the Prague Conservatory (where he played in a trio with Jan Hammer) and then the Berklee College Of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, Vitous had played or recorded with an astonishing list of major jazz artists by 1970, including Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter. A founder member of the influential Weather Report, with Shorter and Joe Zawinul, he left in 1973 to study a custom-made instrument combining electric bass and guitar. Forming a brilliant new group in 1979, with John Surman (saxophone), Kenny Kirkland or John Taylor (piano), and Jon Christensen (drums), Vitous melodic, folk-influenced bass was important in the creation of the European style recorded by ECM Records. He is also a noted teacher, joining the New England Conservatory in 1979.